German gov’t permits flights from coronavirus-infected Iran and China

Words of transportation minister to bar flights are "an empty promise"

By BENJAMIN WEINTHAL
A cleric man wears a protective mask amid concerns over the coronavirus (COVID-19) spread, at Najaf airport in the holy city of Najaf upon his arrival from Iran (photo credit: REUTERS/ALAA AL-MARJANI)
A cleric man wears a protective mask amid concerns over the coronavirus (COVID-19) spread, at Najaf airport in the holy city of Najaf upon his arrival from Iran
(photo credit: REUTERS/ALAA AL-MARJANI)
BERLIN – German airports and authorities defied on Wednesday the announcement from Transportation Minister Andreas Scheuer to bar flights from the coronavirus-infected hotspots of the Islamic Republic of Iran and China.
The daily Die Welt titled its Wednesday online article: “Flight IR721 [IranAir] exposes Scheuer's ban on landing as an empty promise.”
German media outlets reported that IranAir flight IR721 from Tehran arrived in Frankfurt on Wednesday and additional planes are slated to arrive from China, including China Southern Airlines flight CZ461, which departs from Shanghai and will arrive in Frankfurt.
According to Die Welt, the Transportation Ministry said it was difficult to implement a ban of landing rights for planes from certain countries. There are, the paper reported, bi-lateral agreements in which mutual landing is guaranteed.
As of Tuesday, Iran reported 16,169 coronavirus cases and 988 deaths. Outside of China, the Islamic Republic of Iran is one of the worst hubs of coronavirus.
Die Welt reported that the authorities are not testing passengers for the coronavirus from the Iran and China flights.
German-Iranian dissident Kazem Moussavi tweeted on Monday: “Shame on Appeasement! Politics allows the Corona-Mullah-Airline to land in Germany.”
Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government has gone to great lengths to ensure that there strong economic relations between Iran and the federal republic. Merkel and Foreign Minister Heiko Maas set up a financial trade mechanism to circumvent US sanctions targeting Iran due to its illegal nuclear program, terrorism and missile program.
IranAir has been accused of aiding Syrian President Bashar Assad in his war against Syrian opposition groups. The airline uses airports in the German cities of Cologne, Frankfurt and Hamburg for passenger and cargo flights.
According to a UN resolution from 2010, IranAir was cited as a company that was possibly involved in sanctions evasion.
The US Department of Treasury sanctioned IranAir in 2011 for “providing material support and services to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps” and Defense Ministry and Armed Forces Logistics.
The Trump administration reimposed sanctions on IranAir after the 2015 nuclear deal lifted economic penalties on the airline.
The Jerusalem Post reported in October 2018 that Varengold Bank, which is based in Hamburg, conducts business with IranAir.